You need to enter a word and cross it with at least one other word, so as not to break the rules.

Hello Riad,
I gave my answer for problem 12 (Counting names) before your answer saying it must be a single connect crossword. My answer has three non connected groups and in each group each word intersects at least one other word. Could you confirm that it is not a valid answer ?
Another question : If in a row or a column all the cells are blackened, this row or column has the score 0 in the corresponding oval. Is this right ?

Hello Christian,
You've got three crosswords, which is unacceptable.
In an empty row or column the score is 0, this is right.

1. 638417529, 527963418.
2. A40D10E30C20B50, E50C40B10A30D20.
3. W, NE, N, -, NW, -, E, N, -. -, S, W, -, -, N, E, N.
4. 15.
5. 6, 9, 11, 16.
6. -HIA-M-SM-SH-IA-, -AH-I-SMHM--SA-I.
7. B---B-B-B-B. PP--Z----X--, NN---U-U--F-.
8. LIANE----L-Q-M-, -HUDAK-O-JIAQI.
9. 63S439S524S63127, 49782S6S3S9871.
10. 49, E/S 7645312, SW/S 2417635, NW/SW 4753261, N/E 5136724, E/SE 6324157, N/W 3271546, W/NE 1562473, 11: CH-E-S-SW-N-SW-E-SE-W-N-E-N, 11: CH-E-S-SW-N-SW-SE-W-NE-N-E-N,
10: CH-E-S-NW-SW-SE-W-NE-N-E-N, 10: CH-E-S-NW-SW-E-SE-W-N-E-N, 4: FI-SW-E-SE-N, 3: GI-S-W-W-NE.
11. 29, --2-2-3-2--2, -------1-------, 3--------------, ---------------, ---------------, -------1------2, -------1-------, ---4-4----11.
12. -21224, ----------, ----------, ----------, ----L-----, ---TIM----, ----N-----, ----------, ----------, ----------, ----------, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/1/-/-/-/-/-/1/, -/-/-/1/1/11/-/-/-/-/13/,
-/-/-/-/14/-/-/-/-/-/14/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0, 0/0/0/1/16/11/0/0/0/0.

Hello,
No news since the end of the competition; what's going on? In any case, like every year, I really enjoyed it!
My only regret is that I ran out of time to come up with a proper solution to problem 10 - By Compass ...

For those that are new to Riad's contest, the next step is that a PDF containing all the optimiser solutions will be shared, so the community can check they're valid. I imagine the By Compass submissions might be very slow to produce.
Also the first 9 puzzles will be scored normally by LMI, there is just some test data on that page for now.

Apologies for the delay. I have lost some of the software I use for creating the images. You are right that generating images for By Compass was indeed difficult. I have just produced the the submission entries as-is. It is going to be lot of work for Riad to cross-check.

Wow+the+optimizers+are+of+such+high+quality%21+It%27s+amazing+how+witty+people+get+with+their+route+planning+in+By+Compass++and+how+much+people+can+do+with+just+a+few+numbers+in+Easy+as+Opti+%F0%9F%A4%AF+%28and+I+can%27t+even+manage+to+solve+all+of+the+right+grids+%F0%9F%98%86%29%0D%0AVery+happy+with+my+Counting+Names+submission+tho%2C+my+goal+was+to+beat+the+Tim%2DLin+combo+%F0%9F%98%89%0D%0ABig+congrats+to+all+the+great+submissions%2C+with+kiwijam+being+a+standout+%F0%9F%98%8E%0D%0AThanks+for+organizing+again+Riad+%26+co+%F0%9F%91%8F

Oops I posted a few times as the submission button seemed not to work but probably just slow internet.

Edited by Leonardo024 2024-04-23 1:46 PM

I spent some time hand-drawing lines on the By Compass grids.
Quite interesting to see the many approaches.
I can't post it here, so will email to Deb.

[edit: haha Leonardo, I was also failing to submit my posts (I thought) because it wasn't letting me attach a file. A "Delete Post" option would be nice.]

Edited by kiwijam 2024-04-23 2:24 PM

Cleaned up some duplicate posts.

Hey+everyone%2c+thanks+for+the+great+puzzles+!+Hard+ones+but+highly+enjoyable+ones+!%0aIs+it+possible+for+me+to+claim+any+points+for+puzzle+number+8+%3f+I+miswrote+LIANE----L-A-N-%23-HUDAK-O-JIAQI+instead+of+LIANE----L-Q-N-%23-HUDAK-O-JIAQI+%f0%9f%98%9c+I+solved+the+grid+correctly+(JIAQI+is+correct+so+the+Q+should+be+in+the+row+...)+but+typed+my+answer+too+fast+%3ap+Thanks+!%0aI+don't+dare+to+ask+for+the+points+for+puzzle+6%2c+I+only+entered+the+keys+for+left+grid+rows%2c+too+bad+for+me%2c+I+solved+the+puzzle+too+but+next+time+I'll+be+more+focused+about+answer+format+%3a)

Thanks for the great contest! The same wishes as L00ping007's. I solved puzzle 8 correctly, just soft click typing '-' after # LIANE----L-Q-M-#HUDAK-O-JIAQI instead of LIANE----L-Q-M-#-HUDAK-O-JIAQI.

In+this+Contest+there+is+no+practice+of+correcting+points+for+the+first+9+puzzles%2E+Enough+time+is+given+to+check+everything+before+sending+answers%2E+Please+be+careful%2E+Moreover%2C+Arnaud+and+Jelena+give+different+answers+on+the+forum%2E%0D%0AI+checked+all+the+answers+for+optimization+puzzles%2E+Some+EASY+AS+OPTI+puzzles+had+several+solutions%2E+If+Martin+and+Du%D1%81+agree+with+this%2C+we+are+ready+to+publish+preliminary+results%2E

The correct score for my puzzle 10 (By Compass) is 172.
Line scores : 4,4,9,10,10,11,7,8,8,9,8,7,9,8,7,6,8,6,7,8,9,5,4

Riad, agree with your opinion. Enough time is given to check everything before sending answers. However, why Christian got 14 points for puzzle 12? He mistook too - in the word "Lionel" he submitted digit 0 instead of "o" letter.

I've already congratulated Riad - as I do every year - on the quality of his problems and the event he puts on for us every year, which I personally wouldn't miss for the world (my son better not be getting married that week, or I'll skip the ceremony!).
I must also warmly congratulate kiwijam, who did an almost faultless job (a great performance), even though the optimization problems seemed to me to be of a very high level.
Finally, I'd like to confirm that in my opinion you need to be fairly strict about entering answers correctly and respecting the answer format, as long as it's not deemed ambiguous. We all know that this can be discriminating (I've had to pay the price), which is why it's important to keep a close eye on things.

You're perfectly right, I had time to double check my answers ! I'll be careful next time ;-)

I did not check your solution, considering that fewer points were claimed than others. I'll go back to checking and reviewing the scores.

%5BQUOTE%5Dleoranger+%2D+2024%2D04%2D23++11%3A14+PM%0D%0A%0D%0ARiad%2C+agree+with+your+opinion%2E+Enough+time+is+given+to+check+everything+before+sending+answers%2E+However%2C+why+Christian+got+14+points+for+puzzle+12%3F+He+mistook+too+%2D+in+the+word+%22Lionel%22+he+submitted+digit+0+instead+of+%22o%22+letter%2E%5B%2FQUOTE%5D%0D%0AJelena%2C+I+check+optimization+problems+carefully+and+correct+the+participants%2E+I+understand+that+Christian+indicated+the+letter+O+and+I+give+maximum+points%2E+Great+result%2C+Christian+deserves+14+points%2E+In+your+solution%2C+I+also+saw+a+mistake+in+the+name+Beatrice+and+planned+to+give+points+if+the+total+result+was+a+little+better%2E+NGS+had+a+slightly+better+result%2C+but+something+didn%E2%80%99t+add+up+in+the+5th+row%2E+Obviously%2C+there+was+a+shift+in+his+solution%2C+which+is+easily+corrected%2E+That%27s+why+the+NGS+received+2+points%2E%0D%0AHugo+stated+that+his+result+was+calculated+incorrectly%2E+I+will%2C+of+course%2C+go+back+to+checking+his+answer+and+correct+the+calculations+in+his+solution%2E+%0D%0A

Thank you very much! James has once again shown brilliant results, bravo! I will return to the announcement of the results after additional verification.

There was an error in your solution in lines 19-21. Instead of W there should be E. I counted lines 19 and 20, but line 21 gives two polygons with a common vertex. Nevertheless, your result was slightly better than Carlos's. I gave you 2 points.

I assume the 0 points on an optimiser means that the submission was invalid. Could you send me the multiple solutions you found for my Easy as Opti?